A Letter From The Publisher, Dec. 31, 1979

Sugarplums, humbug! After covering the pre-Christmas offerings at some
of the world's finest auction houses for this week's cover story on the
"collectibles" craze, several TIME collectors had visions of
something more elaborate dancing in their heads. Their Christmas lists
follow.

Senior Writer Michael Demarest, who wrote the story on the growing rage
to collect everything from Bruegels to Barbie dolls, is a
traditionalist in these matters. "A Louis XV marquetry cabinet
would be nice," he says, "though I would be quite content to
receive a second painting by Jack Yeats [Poet William...